Newcastle United seriously struggled last season.
The Magpies were in the Champions League, as major European nights returned to St James’ Park.
It was an incredible campaign, as Newcastle United took on the likes of Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan and Borussia Dortmund. Eddie Howe’s team went toe-to-toe with European heavyweights, and certainly did not disgrace themselves.
However, competing in the Champions League took its toll on Newcastle. It impacted their Premier League form, while injuries piled up.
Eddie Howe did not have enough depth, and it culminated in Newcastle missing out on Europe completely after finishing seventh.
Alan Shearer compares Aston Villa to Newcastle United
Amazon Prime Video UEFA Champions League pundit Alan Shearer during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD5 match between Manchester Cit...
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European football hurt Newcastle domestically during the 2023/24 campaign.
Now the same thing is happening to Aston Villa, who lost 3-0 to Chelsea on Sunday. They are actually lower than Newcastle in the Premier League, with Unai Emery’s side dropping down to 12th after five league games without a win.
Speaking on the latest episode of The Rest Is Football podcast, Alan Shearer compared this current Aston Villa team to Newcastle last season as he assessed Emery’s squad depth.
“No, they haven’t got the bodies,” he said.
“They haven’t got the bodies to do that [rotate like Chelsea]. And they can’t do it because of the quality they’re up against. It showed today with Aston Villa.
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“It reminds me a bit of what Newcastle were last season when they got into the Champions League. The energy they had to put in on a Tuesday and a Wednesday, it’s bound to take it out of you at the weekend and that affected their league position.
“This is what’s happening to Aston Villa at the minute.”
Newcastle and Aston Villa suffering because of PSR
As Shearer says, Aston Villa cannot rotate like Chelsea do. Firstly, they do not have the depth. Secondly, they would need more quality to rotate between the Premier League and the Champions League, whereas Chelsea are in the Conference League.
That jump in quality makes it so difficult for Aston Villa, as Newcastle found last season. There is barely any opportunity to rotate, because every game is absolutely pivotal.
To counteract that, you need much more quality in your squad, but that is extremely difficult for the likes of Newcastle and Aston Villa to achieve due to profit and sustainability.
PSR is holding clubs like Newcastle and Aston Villa back. At the start of the summer, Newcastle lost Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh, two extremely talented young players. As for Aston Villa, they had to sell Douglas Luiz, who was one of their most influential midfielders.
With a lack of top quality depth, Newcastle failed to balance Champions League and Premier League football.
Now Aston Villa are enduring the same fate.
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